The Premier League is back - and order has been restored at the top of the table.

All of last season's top five opened up their campaign with victories, but it was reigning champions Manchester City and ever-improving Liverpool who stole the headlines.

City were as comfortable as ever as they strolled to a 2-0 win over Arsenal, while Liverpool thumped a new-look West Ham 4-0 at Anfield.

Chelsea set their stall out for the season with a routine win over Huddersfield, while Manchester United and Tottenham both secured 2-1 wins, against Leicester and Newcastle respectively.

Elsewhere on the opening weekend of the season, Bournemouth, Watford and Crystal Palace were victorious, while the Wolves-Everton and Southampton-Burnley games ended level.

Here are 10 talking points from the Premier League weekend...

Sadio Mane was on the scoresheet twice for Liverpool against West Ham (Image: PA)

1. Yes, we're talking VAR already

Like it or not, VAR is likely to be in English football sooner rather than later.

Sadio Mane appeared two yards offside when he scored Liverpool’s third against West Ham on Sunday.

That is likely to mean renewed calls for video technology especially if similar mistakes are made by officials that could be avoided with the use of monitors.

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2. Emery's style is modern and rigid... but has potential

Sunday was the first chance for us to take a good look at the way Emery intends his Gunners team to play this season.

And for the most part, Arsenal supporters have a lot to be excited about.

Manchester City started brightly, as you'd expect from reining champions, and took the game to the Gunners.

But Emery's men stood up to the onslaught, and you could see two visible lines of Arsenal defenders taking City on, head-on too.

There is plenty for Unai Emery to think about (Image: AFP)

The Arsenal team weren't exclusively rigid either; they attempted to play it out from the back, admittedly with mixed results to begin with.

Petr Cech looked shaky playing with the ball at his feet, but then he's not likely to be Arsenal's number one for the foreseeable future.

Despite the odd mistake, Emery's influence is already visible, and you feel that once Arsenal are truly in tune with their new boss than magic will happen.

As for being exciting, the Gunners sprung into life in the second half and went for City at times. In some ways it's unfortunate they did have to face the champions on the first day of the season, you feel they could have thumped another team today.

Arsenal will need to improve as the season goes on (Image: Getty Images Europe)

3. Not so happy Hammers

Away days at the likes of Anfield will not determine whether West Ham have a good season but, with a new manager at the helm and a raft of new signings, more was expected from the visitors.

Felipe Anderson made a bright start but faded before being replaced in the second half while Jack Wilshere looked off the pace at the heart of midfield.

With Andy Carroll injured (again) and Javier Hernandez still unable to curry favour, it was left to Marko Arnautovic to lead the line but the Austrian cut a frustrated figure in attack is still more likely to hit the headlines for his temper than his finishing.

Manuel Pellegrini will be expected to deliver a top-10 finish at the London Stadium but with fixtures against Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea before the end of September, it could be an uphill battle for the Chilean.

It wasn't the ideal return to the Premier League for Pellegrini (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

4. Richarlison suggests he could be £50m bargain

Everton's Premier League rivals will be kicking themselves at overlooking Richarlison.

The Brazilian more than lived up to his £50million fee with two sublime goals at Wolves.

Surely he would fit well into a Tottenham side that failed to make a single summer signing?

5. Harry Kane does a Harry Kane

Surely it would be better to give the Tottenham striker the whole month off to completely recharge his batteries?

Kane does not know how to score in August (Image: AFP)

6. Keeping Zaha could be league's best business

The best piece of transfer business could well have been done at Crystal Palace.

Not only has Roy Hodgson signed a contract extension, but the non-transfer of Wilfried Zaha could be crucial to the Eagles’ chances.

Zaha was a class act again as Palace saw off Fulham 2-0 and his value could rise even further from the £70 million he was rated at over the summer with many more displays like that.

Zaha will be crucial to Palace's hopes this season (Image: Getty Images Europe)

7. Pogba has some big cojones

Fair play, Paul. You've got a big pair of cojones.

Imagine being in his shoes, just two minutes into the new Premier League season, and having the audacity to attempt a showboat run-up for a penalty.

Add in the fact that this is a defining season for him. He has failed under Jose Mourinho so far and quite simply hasn't been good enough.

If he had attempted that run-up and missed he would have been slaughtered. It would have been back to normality after an out-of-the-ordinary summer.

But the fact he still tried it - and pulled it off - says a lot about Pogba as a person. He's confident, he's cocky... and he could be a defining character in the Premier League this season.

Pogba puts his penalty into the top corner on Friday night (Image: Offside)

8. Keita was worth the wait

The plaudits will keep coming for the midfielder who shone on his debut - a year after agreeing to join from RB Leipzig.

The anticipation grew at a considerable rate last season as Liverpool fans waited for a glimpse of their £52.5million man.

And after an impressive pre-season, Keita did not disappoint, making his mark in the opening minutes.

Busy in midfield and more than content to burst forward, he was involved in the opening goal, playing the ball out to Andrew Robertson who crossed for Salah to finish.

Any lingering thoughts that Liverpool should have made more effort to sign Nabil Fekir from Lyon as well have surely been put to bed after this afternoon.

Keita looks like he will be the real deal at Liverpool (Image: AFP)

9. City win, but will they dominate like last year?

There's no denying City's title potential again this campaign but it could be a close-run thing.

Pep Guardiola's crack team of attackers certainly look the most likely for a while to break the curse of the champions tag and perhaps become the first side in a decade to retain the Premier League trophy.

However, a slow middle period proved why it could still be a tougher task than many expect.

If their clash with Arsenal turns into a metaphor for the season, we could see a stunning set of strikers slowly run out of steam as their rivals work out how to mark up, hunker down and cope with their crisp passing power.

For 20 minutes, City were unstoppable, but how many sides will learn how to slam on the brakes?

City look set to retain their Premier League title this season (Image: Getty Images Europe)

10. Cardiff look way off the pace

Cardiff look far from good enough to survive in the top flight.

Neil Warnock is famed for his progress in the transfer market but he has had a poor window. Only Bobby Reid started from last season’s side in the 2-0 loss at Bournemouth.

While fellow new boys Wolves and Fulham have made some inspired transfer business, Cardiff have by and large stood still over the summer.